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Leonard Miller, chairman of homebuilder Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN), died July 28 after a lengthy battle with liver cancer.

Miller was 69. He co-founded Miami-based Lennar, South Florida's largest real estate developer, in the 1950s.

In 1997, the company spun off its commercial operations into the separately traded LNR Property Corp. (NYSE: LNR). Miller was a director of that company.

Miller led Lennar as president and chief executive officer until 1997, when he was replaced by his son, Stuart.

"Leonard Miller will be missed by all of us as a colleague and a friend," said Robert Strudler, Lennar vice chairman and chief operating officer. "His adherence to the highest standards of integrity and his dedication to quality have created the basis for the exemplary history of achievement by Lennar Corp."

Strudler said Miller's legacy will continue in the leadership demonstrated by Stuart Miller.

Leonard Miller was born in Bedford, Mass. He moved to Florida after graduating Harvard University in 1955 and started Lennar.

Miller first learned of his cancer about two years ago, according to Shelly Rubin, LNR Property's CFO. He was able to live beyond doctors' prognosis of a speedy decline, she said.

"It was expected to be quick," Rubin said. "But he was able to live a couple of really good, quality years."

Miller also served as chairman of Union Bank of Florida and the South Florida Annenberg Challenge, and was past chairman of the board of trustees at the University of Miami.

The university awarded Miller with an honorary doctorate in business in May 2001.

UM President Donna E. Shalala has ordered all university flags to be flown at half-staff in Miller's honor through Tuesday. She called Miller a man of principle and optimism.

"His commitment to educational opportunity was extraordinary - at the university, in the community and the state of Florida," Shalala said.

Miller's death leaves a void at the companies he helped build.

"All of us at LNR deeply mourn Leonard's passing," said Jeffrey Krasnoff, president of LNR Property, a commercial real estate investment, finance and management firm. "He is the guiding light in setting the foundation for the excellent corporate citizen that LNR is today. "

Like others, Krasnoff stressed Miller's character as a leader.

"His leadership, warmth and wise counsel will be sadly missed by all of us whose lives he has touched over the years."

Lennar is a $6 billion company that registered a net income of $418 million in 2001.

The company builds single-family homes in 16 states.

Its prices range from $100,000 to $1 million with the average home selling $237,000, according to the financial Web site Hoover's.

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